Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-04-23
NEW YORK ETICTIONS.
TWENTY THOUSAND FAMILIES DIS POSSESSED IN THE CITY IN 1886.

The Item of Rent Out of Proportion Co a Poor Mans IneOme-what Become
 of the FamiIies3-Justices as Peace
 makers.
 If the number of families in New York | which hire their rooms from month tc | month De taken to be between lJ0 900 and l.J,OOO, then over One-tenth of these fam ilies have been turned out of their homes during the year. The records of the eleven district courts prove it. Four district courts alone will show that they have issued some 10000 dispossess sUmmonses. each one of which was a notice tOa family to pay up or go.
 To say that there were some %. .000 fam | flies driven out of their homes last year carries only part of the meaning. The nvcrdge number Of persons in those p0oy families Is greater than in rich or wcll-to- do iamiles. It is a fair estimate Co say thot iu those @o.OO0 fimilic- there were l-l.UuO men, women and children. most u! whom were unable - earn go sufficient living. The item of rent was great one tti.h them, out of proportion Co whGt it Is Go man with a moderate income A la'OrCr earning sl day, or S26 a month. hi-s Co nay from 50 J0 Co SlU rent. Ur over third Of hs income. while s working rla1 who gets SJj0 Q day will urt rly over $ l> a month rent. With % minority Dt I.u c 20. 0U0 families the rent Was more taan they could bear and they succumHcd Tho head of the family may have Lcer sick. on spree or out of work Tht family could ec0nomize in food. fuel and clothing. but they lived in the cheapest tenemcnts already and the rent forced them out. lt k apuzZle where they 80.
 UNDER THE LAW.
 The dispossess proceedings in the courts do not by any means give the full number of families who are forced from their homes by various reasons. Under tho laV the landlord must give notice Co their ten. ants first and thousands of tenants. know ing that tO disregard the notice will only bring forcible eviction sell or east away their furniture, and wander out into the city at once. On the money obtained from the sale of their furniture they may live a while, and then nobody notices how they are swallowed up.
 Of course there Is another side to it a few eases, and there are professional rent evaders. who take advantages of the tech nicalties of the law. the lenieucy of tho justices Co the poor and the multitude of worthy eases, Co escape paying rent when they could if they would When q tenant hires from month to month he can hold over for another month if not notified tO go five days before the first day of the next month. Otherwise he can hold on, and if he rents by the year he can hold on for another year. Or if he is behind in his rent he can make the landlord prove ownership. previous notice. specific con tract and violation of 1t before he can be forcibly ejected. It k not easy for tie landlord tO do all this if the tenant chooses tO fight
 Notwithstanding the general impression, drunkenness and shiftlessness in themseves are not the immediate cause Of many cvic- tions. \ mans drunkenness may cause him Co lose his place, and then, without work, he has no income. but as long as he works his wife usually manage to get enough of his pay to pay the rent. Lack Of work and sickness or death in the family are the main causes of falling behind in ;he rent The family ge. SD far behind in theis rent that it IS next Co impossible to pay up, and they are cvicted, sell all they can of their furniture, and start over again in a new neighborhood IT the father gets work then and Is In good health he may regain home. II he doesn't, his family breaks up, and he may become q tramp, criminal or Q paupcr.
 JUSTICES AS PEAcFIARKEs.
 As q rule, the civil justices try to act as peacemakers between the landlord and tensnt Where the tenant Is able to pay they usually succeed. In all cases they give the tenant time, and try tO prevent forcibls election by the marzhals. In not over quarter of the eases is it necessary to sall in the assistance of marshal tO get the tenant out Attached to several of the district courts is @ charitable organization In extreme eases the justices and clerks at the court chip in to pay the rent.
 Several of the justices talked about thciI experiences with eviction cases They are much alike. The following from Justice Mccarthy speaks for the other east side districts:
 There were some 2. 600 disposScss pro | csciincs in the Fifth district court this year. In not over a third of them was fCrc.ble action taken. In the others th. tenants moved a- soon as they saw it was inevitable Thrceq quarters of the eases were for arrears iu rent. The others were where the landlord had given the tenant notice tJ leave at the end of the month | and the tenant had not left. Some Of thr ! cases are professionals. They come Up several times year. They would rather move than pay rent, even though they are able to. They get ip arrears and hang on till the Inst m0meDt, when they pack up and move.
 Most of the cases arc IriShmen and Jews. Native Americans are rarest and Germans next. Jews do not always go on 6 summons, but they often fight the case in court, and cause the landlord lot of trouble Co prove his side Jews are good pay, but litigous. Many of them have picked up good knowledge of the law, and conduct their own cases admir- | ably. I do not know where the evicted ] tenants 20. but probably to cheaper quar- ters. We look after all that we can, and l often WIG raise the money among ourselves to pay the rent Sometimes We are i'm r,rsaaI am fQf ff--Navg- XarE Cuu